5 Ways You Are A Wonder Woman And How It’s Going To Save The World

This past weekend, millions of women and men flocked to theaters to witness the box office breaking prowess of Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman.  I was one of them. And I could’t help but feel the superhero kind of adrenaline pumping through my veins knowing that a sea of men were about to watch my story, the story of being a woman. A wonder woman.

The opening line goes something like this: “when I was a little girl, I wanted to grow up and save the world.”  Although our Wonder Woman quickly learns that her innocent quest may be a harder mission to fulfill, by the time I got to the middle of my popcorn, all I could think was this movie is definitely going to change the world.

I knew I was about to see a groundbreaking female heroic narrative (a feminist ferocity only perhaps previously felt in Beyonce music videos), but what I didn’t expect was that I would weep from the triumphant wonder of it all—almost all the way through.
I cried when I saw the opening images of  gracious goddess-like warrior women, fighting with the vigor of masculine energy, feeling with the tenderness of the feminine—powerful women ruling over a Utopian-Like island that looked like the peace-filled heaven we dream of when we imagine Michelle Obama as our president.

I wept the rest of the way through, and not because it was all necessarily weep-worthy, but simply because I couldn’t stop thinking about the wondrous thirty-something year-old woman I might’ve become if I had had the privilege of watching this movie when I was a 7-year-old girl dreaming of what was ahead. Or maybe I, and all of us, already are those wonder women and nobody ever made a movie that told us the right story about our true power and how to yield it.  Until now.
Here are 5 reason why we are all wonder women,  and how we are definitely going to save the world.

1. She Reminds Us Damsels Are No Longer In Distress

In the first few minutes of the film, the protagonist, Diana Prince, pulls a drowning Chris Pine out of the water. Need I say more.  I repeat a woman pulls a drowning man out of the water. One tiny little scene forever putting an end to that tired story  that we all grew up watching: Damsels are in distress and a man must save them. Thanks to Wonder Woman, not any more!

2. Her Most Powerful Weapon Is Love

In spite of her super human combat skills, her super shield and her super sword, by the time Diana reaches her final battle, she understands that the greatest weapon she has in the face of the world’s most violent atrocities is her deep held belief that in the end, LOVE conquers all. Can I get an Amen?!

3. She Has Feelings And She’s Strong

While weaving her way through war-torn horrors, Diana compassionately takes on the pain of others, never once ignoring any of the wounded, all the while moving steadily through the battlefield. She cries and fights – combining vulnerability with strength – and has an innate knowledge that her true power comes from the ability to do both equally well.

 4. She Accepts An Imperfect World And Is Unfazed By It

Many movies divide their worlds into an oversimplified version of good vs. evil.  By the end, things are usually tied up in some perfect version of a happily ever after, where the bad people are punished and the good people go on. But Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman sees the unfairness of the world and the complexity of man every step she takes. In spite of all the contradictory forces, she doesn’t allow the brokenness of the world to dictate her course. In one scene, she reaches compassionately over to a hurting man, trying to soothe him. He lashes out at her and says,  “woman, stop makin’ such a fuss.”  I couldn’t help but think about how many times feminine loving and nurturing energy is either pushed against, ignored, dismissed, or even brutalized in our world, and how often we, as women, internalize that experience.  The confusion in Gal Gadot’s glance seems to hold all of that, all at once, and yet as the story continues, she moves forward offering that same giving energy regardless of whether the world of men can receive it or not.

5. Her Inner Strength Is Her Only Hero

In her darkest hours, never does the character of wonder woman yearn, long, hope, or expect anyone but herself to do her own saving. In fact, there’s never even a trace of longing for an outside hero to come along. She demands that she save herself and by saving herself, she saves all those around her. Mind blown.